Oscar's most popular date: Mom

By Jill Martin Wrenn, CNN

Updated 1320 GMT (2120 HKT) March 4, 2014

The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Winner for Best Actor in "Dallas Buyers Club" Matthew McConaughey with his mother, Mary Kathlene McCabe, left, and wife Camila Alves arrives on the red carpet for the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Jared Leto hugs his mother Constance as they attend the Oscars on March 2, 2014, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Nominee for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "The Wolf of Wall Street" Jonah Hill and mother Sharon Lyn Chalkin arrive on the red carpet for the 86th Academy Awards.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Nominee for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "12 Years a Slave" Michael Fassbender and his mother Adele arrive on the red carpet for the 86th Academy Awards.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Lupita Nyong'o, right, and her mother Dorothy Nyong'o arrive at the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards on March 1, 2014, in Santa Monica, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Charlize Theron, right, and mother Gerda Maritz arrive at the Oscars on February 24, 2013, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Chris Evans and mother Lisa Evans arrive at the Oscars on February 24, 2013, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Bradley Cooper and mother Gloria Cooper arrive at the Oscars on February 24, 2013, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ... – Jennifer Lawrence hugs mother Karen Lawrence after winning the Best Actress award for "Silver Linings Playbook" during the Oscars on February 24, 2013, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Brad Pitt is accompanied by his father William Alvin Pitt, left, mother Jane Pitt, second from left, and partner Angelina Jolie at the 84th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2012, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Justin Timberlake and mother Lynn Harless arrive at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on February 27, 2011, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Russell Brand and mother Juliet Elizabeth Brand arrive at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on February 27, 2011, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Jeremy Renner and mother Valerie Cearley arrive at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on February 27, 2011, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Leonardo DiCaprio with his mother, Irmelin, attends the Annual Cinema For Peace Gala at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2010, in Berlin, Germany.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Colin Farrell and his mom Rita arrive at the 80th Annual Academy Awards held on February 24, 2008, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Winner for Best Supporting Actor for "No Country For Old Men" Javier Bardem is congratulated by his mother, Pilar, during the 80th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 24, 2008.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Ryan Gosling, with sister Mandi, left, and mother Donna, attends the 79th Annual Academy Awards on February 25, 2007, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Best Actress in a Supporting Role winner Jennifer Hudson, left, and her mother Darnell Hudson are pictured during the Governors Ball following the 79th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, on February 25, 2007. Hudson won for her role in "Dream Girls."

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Reese Witherspoon and mother Betty attend the Governors Ball after the 78th Annual Academy Awards on March 5, 2006, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Clint Eastwood and his mother, Ruth, attend the Governors Ball after the 77th Annual Academy Awards on February 27, 2005 in Hollywood, California.

The award for best mom goes to ... – Sean Penn hugs his mother in the audience after winning the award for Best Performance by an Actor for "Mystic River" during the 76th Annual Academy Awards on February 29, 2004, in Hollywood, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Halle Berry arrives with her mother Judy and her then-husband Eric Benet at the 74th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on March 24, 2002. Berry would win Best Actress for her role in "Monster's Ball."

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Joaquin Phoenix and his mother, Heart, arrive for the 73rd Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 25, 2001. Phoenix was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Gladiator."

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Hilary Swank, center, with her mother and then-husband Chad Lowe, shows off the Best Actress Oscar she won on March 26, 2001, for her performance in "Boys Don't Cry."

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Ben Affleck, second from left, arrives with his mother, Chris Boldt, and Matt Damon, third from left, arrives with his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, at the 70th Annual Academy Awards on March 23, 1998, in Los Angeles. Affleck and Damon won the award for Best Original Screenplay for "Good Will Hunting." Damon was nominated for Best Actor for the same film.

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Emma Thompson, left, arrives with her mother, Phyllida Law, at the 68th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Thompson was nominated for Best Actress and won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, both for the film "Sense and Sensibility."

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The award for best mom goes to ... – Steven Spielberg poses with his wife actress Kate Capshaw, right, and his mother Leah Adler at the 66th Annual Academy Awards ceremony after winning the 1993 Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for his movie "Schindler's List."

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The award for best mom goes to ...31 photos

The award for best mom goes to ... – Tom Cruise and his mother, Mary Lee Pfeiffer, attend an event together.

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The award for best mom goes to ... – John Travolta, left, sits with his parents, Salvatore Travolta, right, and Helen Cecilia Burke Travolta, center, during the 50th Annual Academy Awards at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

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The award for best mom goes to ... – Audrey Hepburn sits next to her mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, in the audience at the Academy Awards ceremony just before Hepburn was announced winner of an Oscar for the movie "Roman Holiday" in 1954.

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Story highlights

Hollywood hunks Jared Leto and Leo DiCaprio brought Mom to the Oscars

Angelina Jolie tearfully thanked her mother when she won a humanitarian award

Leto shouted out to his mother during his acceptance speech

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck bought their moms to the 1998 Oscars

This year's Academy Awards could be called The Year of the Mom. While "12 Years a Slave" earned the Best Picture Oscar, mothers swept the date category. Many of Hollywood's hottest award contenders brought Mom along to share in their Oscar glory.

Jared Leto, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill were just a few of the nominees who escorted their mothers to Oscar night.

But these matriarchs played a bigger role than just companion for the night's festivities. They also featured prominently in their offspring's acceptance speeches.

Jared Leto set the tone for the evening. The "Dallas Buyers Club" actor gave his mother a tear-jerking shout-out early in the evening. In his acceptance speech for the supporting actor Oscar, he honored his single mother's support, especially during a rocky start in the early 1970s.

"There was a teenage girl who was pregnant with her second child," Leto said, looking at his mother smiling proudly in the front row. "Somehow, she managed to make a better life for herself and her children," he said.

While the audience clapped, he added, "I love you, Mom. Thank you for teaching me to dream."

But of course, Hollywood hunks taking their mothers along on the awards circuit is not a new phenomenon. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck squired their beaming moms when they were the new kids on the Oscar block with "Good Will Hunting," which won the award for best original screenplay in 1998. The time honored Oscar tradition crossed gender lines this year; daughters got in on the action this year, too.

Laura Dern beamed alongside her father, Bruce Dern, a nominee for his lead role in the movie, "Nebraska." He lost out to Matthew McConaughey, who won the award for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club." McConaughey, by the way, also brought his mother, along with his wife.

So why are these guys, who have their pick of supermodels, groupies or other celebrities, taking their moms along as dates to Hollywood's most high-profile event? Experts say they're not surprised.

"That's the most important woman in their lives," said Jennifer Tardelli, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in women's issues (she's also a mother of three whom I know through my children's preschool), "And the woman who taught them everything they needed to know to get this place of artistic excellence."

Sharing their glory with the parent who gave them their start seems to appeal to celebrities. Even stars who have lost parents managed to make that parent's presence felt.

A clip of a tearful Angelina Jolie, thanking the Academy for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, played during the Oscar telecast on Sunday. She shared how proud her mother would have been of her, giving the Oscars broadcast one of its more poignant moments.

"My mother loved art, she loved film," she said. "If she were alive, she'd be very proud," she finished, dissolving into tears. While the clip played, Jolie's partner Brad Pitt gave her a kiss. It was hard not to cry.

"Most adults strive to please their parents, and honor their parents, and show their parents how much they appreciate them," said Kris Colluro Smith, an Atlanta-based clinical social worker specializing in grief and loss. "When we get honored, or have an accomplishment, it's really natural to want to reflect back on our parents, and how our mother might have helped us get to that point."

For celebrities, it's a chance to have their biggest fan on their arm; someone who knew them from their humble beginnings, and helped them to achieve stardom.

For parents watching at home, it's inspiring to think that one day, our kids could win Oscars, and actually give us credit for somehow helping them.

Like many Oscar fans, whenever I watch the awards, I wonder whom I might thank in my acceptance speech, if I should ever write a screenplay, direct a film or produce an animated short that's worthy of the awards. (I realize it's a long-shot!)

I'm holding off on buying my Oscar dress, but I did love Lupita Nyong'o's custom-made Prada gown. She, too, brought her mother along for the night.

Just in case my own Oscar dreams don't come true, I will look to my kids. I should start dropping hints now that if they are ever nominated for an Academy Award, they must bring me as their date.

Of course, they'll mention me prominently in their speech, preferably after thanking me for driving them places, as Jolie did in her heartrending tribute to her mom (someone had to drive her to those auditions, and wait in the car until her daughter was done).

And if my own Oscar ever comes, I will be sure to say, "This one's for you, Mom." Get the tissues ready.